Expelling bullies doesn't work, but education might

Zero-tolerance policies that kick bullies out of school are not the answer to the persistent bullying problem plaguing the nation's classrooms, playgrounds and social media sites, according to areport released Tuesday.

Experts from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said prevention efforts should instead target entire schools and give extra attention to students at risk or already involved in bullying, including both victims and the perpetrators themselves.

Suspending and expelling bullies “doesn’t really help the targets necessarily and it certainly doesn’t help the young people doing the bullying,” said Frederick Rivara, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital and chairman of the panel that wrote report.

The group examined decades of research on the bullying of children and teens ages 5-18 and found:

• Between 18% and 31% are repeatedly insulted, threatened, pushed around or otherwise bullied in person by their peers. Online bullying affects 7% to 15%. Recent data suggesting a decline in bullying have yet to be confirmed.

• Children and teens who are disabled, obese or lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender are more likely to be bullied. Ethnic, racial and religious minorities also may be targeted.

• Bullied children suffer sleep disturbances, headaches and stomach trouble and are more likely to face depression, anxiety and alcohol and drug abuse, extending into adulthood. Bullies themselves are more likely to be depressed and commit theft and vandalism. Suicide attempts are increased in both groups, though it’s not clear bullying is a cause.

• Zero-tolerance policies that became popular in the 1990s have never been shown to reduce bullying. They may discourage students from reporting bullying.

• Programs that encourage bystanders to stop bullying when they see it show promise. But asking students to work out bullying on their own — through peer mediation or forced apologies — can backfire.

“You would never put an abuser face to face with a victim and tell them to work it out,” said Deborah Temkin, a researcher with Child Trends in Bethesda, Md., who reviewed a draft of the report. Bullying, she said, is "an abusive use of power.”

Kicking out the abusers doesn’t “address the underlying issues,” she added. “They come back angrier than they were before, potentially putting the child they were bullying at even higher risk.”

Parents of bullied children often want the abusers punished, and bullies should face some consequences, said Ross Ellis, founder and CEO of Stomp Out Bullying, a N.Y.-based non-profit advocacy group.

“But somebody called us last week and wanted a 3-year-old arrested for bullying, which is ridiculous,” Ellis said. “Parents need to understand that the bully needs help as much as the victim.”

The report called for schools to teach social and emotional skills and tactics for dealing with bullying. It said parents and other adults, including coaches and bus drivers, should play crucial roles in preventing and stopping abuse. And it urged social media companies to adopt policies to curb online bullying.

Alex Levy, 18, a senior at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, Conn., said he and a friend were physically and verbally harassed on a regular basis in 5th grade at a different private school. Administrators, he said, urged the students involved to work out their differences and ended up suggesting he and his friend leave the school.

They did leave and the next year that one-time friend starting bullying him, eventually breaking his arm, Levy said.

The experiences led him to spearhead anti-bullying efforts at his new school, said Levy, who is a speaker for Stomp Out Bullying. “You can’t force people to always get along, but you can create an environment where kindness is promoted,” he said.